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Originally Posted by liquidlight
That's got to be an emergency landing, there's nowhere to go! No taxi-ways, and then that runway barely looks long enough to land!  |
Apparently, that's normal.
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Tegucigalpa airport is located about 7 Km from the city center on the south side of Tegucigalpa. Incoming passengers don't pay departure tax unless their connections are more than 8 hours apart.
The airport has been upgraded in recent years, and pilots flying in on commercial airlines have been especially trained for special landings. TGU is at about 980 meters above sealevel and sourounded by mountains; it is amazing how pilots handle the landings so smoothly and safely. Larger aircraft (737-700's and 757s) come in high over the mountains and then circle the city to reduce altitude before landing at TGU's Toncontin International Airport. This gives passengers great views of Tegucigalpa and opportunity for some cool photos out the window especially when the plane sweeps over hills and housing to suddenly touch down. Wow! The airport closes around 9pm every night when Taca takes off non-stop to Guatemala City. Large aircraft don't land after dark.
The old pink airport terminal building is sometimes very busy with the growing number of tourists, locals and aid/mission workers arriving and departing on numerous international and national flights (to Roatan, La Ceiba, La Mosquitia, San Pedro Sula, etc.)
Inside the terminal there are a number of souvenir stores, an ATM accepting most cards, eating places, Dunkin Donuts and Cafes, as well as Wendy's.
The new terminal building (will be about triple the size) will increase TGU's capacity to more comfortably handle the growing number of travelers chosing Tegucigalpa as their port of entry or departure to/from Honduras, or for connections to other countries.
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It's the capital of Honduras, if you don't care to look it up (I had no idea).